Uneven Geographies of the Embodied Effects of Water Insecurity Among Women Irrigators in Northern Ghana

Abstract

The linkages between water insecurity and human health have been of long-standing research interest to geographers, especially those studying the human–environment dimensions of health. This article contributes to this scholarship by demonstrating how insecure access to irrigation water produces differentiated bodily effects for women. Data for the article come from empirical field work using interviews, focus group discussions, drone-based participatory mapping, and community validation workshops. Grounded in the literature on embodiment and intersectional feminist political ecology and through the firsthand experiences of women and their struggles to secure irrigation water, the article makes two main contributions. First, it demonstrates how drones could be innovatively integrated into qualitative and political ecology field work to better understand human–environment interactions. Second, it shows that space and time are critical to understanding the differentiated embodied experiences of water insecurity. More specifically, different irrigators experience different bodily effects depending on where their irrigated fields are located. Compared to women with plots near irrigation canals, the article shows that those with plots further afield experience more debilitating pains in the limbs, waist, and hips as they struggle to secure water. Overall, the article’s findings highlight how the uneven geographies of access to irrigation water warrant closer attention by scholars studying hydrosocial relations and health. Key Words: embodiment, feminist political ecology, intersectionality, participatory mapping, water security.

水危机与人类健康之间的联系, 一直是地理学家的研究兴趣, 尤其是健康的人与环境因素研究。为此, 本文展示了灌溉用水危机如何对女性产生不同的具身影响。数据来自于实证性实地工作, 包括访谈、焦点小组讨论、基于无人机的参与式制图和社区验证研讨会。根据具身化和跨部门女权主义政治生态学文献, 通过女性的第一手经验及其确保灌溉用水的努力, 本文有两个主要贡献。首先, 展示了如何在定性和政治生态学实地工作中创新地结合无人机, 从而更好地理解人与环境的互动。其次, 为了理解差异化的水危机具身体验, 空间和时间具有至关重要的作用。由于灌溉农田位置的不同, 灌溉者会经历不同的身体影响。与农田靠近灌渠的女性相比, 农田更远的女性在获得水源时, 四肢、腰部和臀部会经受令人疲惫的疼痛。本文强调, 水社会关系和健康研究应密切关注灌溉用水的不均衡分布。

Los vínculos entre la inseguridad hídrica y la salud humana han sido del interés investigativo de los geógrafos desde hace largo tiempo, especialmente entre quienes estudian las dimensiones humano–ambientales de la salud. Este artículo pretende contribuir a esta erudición demostrando cómo el acceso inseguro al agua de riego produce efectos corporales diferenciados en las mujeres. Los datos para el artículo provienen del trabajo de campo empírico en el que se aplicaron entrevistas, grupos de discusión, cartografía participativa con el uso de drones y talleres de validación comunitaria. Apoyado en la literatura sobre la corporeidad y la ecología política feminista interseccional, y con las experiencias propias de las mujeres y sus luchas para asegurarse de disponer de agua para riego, el artículo hace dos contribuciones principales. Primero, demuestra cómo los drones podrían integrarse al trabajo de campo cualitativo de la ecología política para entender mejor las interacciones humano–ambientales. Segundo, muestra que el espacio y el tiempo son cruciales para comprender las experiencias diferenciadas sobre inseguridad hídrica. Más específicamente, los diferentes irrigantes experimentan efectos corporales distintos según el lugar en donde se ubiquen sus campos de regadío. En comparación con las mujeres que tienen sus parcelas cerca de los canales de irrigación, el artículo muestra que quienes tienen parcelas más alejadas experimentan dolores más incapacitantes en las extremidades, la cintura y las caderas en su brega por conseguir agua. En general, los hallazgos del artículo destacan cómo las geografías desiguales de acceso al agua de riego merecen una mayor atención de los estudiosos de las relaciones hidrosociales y la salud.

关键词:

• 具身化
• 女权主义政治生态
• 交叉性
• 参与式制图
• 水安全

Palabras clave:

• cartografía participativa
• ecología política feminista
• encarnación
• interseccionalidad
• seguridad hídrica

Acknowledgments

We thank Editor Brian King and two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on the article. Special thanks to Awudu Adamu and Augustine Bagre for their immense assistance during the field work. We are deeply grateful to the residents and chiefs of the research communities for assisting with various parts of this study.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Customary laws refer to indigenous norms, rules, and taboos established and reinforced through tradition and socialization that clan chiefs and elders use to administer affairs in their territories.

2 In Kusaal (the local language), yengdem roughly translates as outsiders. It is used to describe nonindigenes, which can be loosely translated as migrants. We use migrants to describe outsiders even though we recognize that it is a problematic term.

Additional information

Funding

This article has been supported with funding from the Rural and Africa Specialty Groups of the American Association of Geographers, the Social Science Research Council, and the Harold Fund from the Department of Geography & the Environment at the University of Denver.

Notes on contributors

Dinko Hanaan Dinko

DINKO HANAAN DINKO is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Geology, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on drones in human–environment research, natural resource management, water resources, the geopolitics of resource exploration, and China in Africa.

Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong

HANSON NYANTAKYI-FRIMPONG is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & the Environment, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80210. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include political ecology, the human dimensions of global environmental change, and sustainable agriculture and food systems.